Twist in the Times
by Alyss Penedo
Summary: "Here there be exorcists." Matoba and Natsume, pre-canon semi-AU. Marginally better summary on the second chapter.
1. Beginnings

**A/N:** Heyyy, so I know I promised I'd start this up once I'd finished Sad she's Gone, but that story is not cooperating, and my Akatsuki no Yona fic (on another site, not here, but you should check that fandom out if you don't know it already) is just me banging my head on a wall, so. Ehehe. Surprise?

(Apparently I have a tendency to plan out depressing, depressing stories and then balk and freeze up before I actually get to the depressing part.

Also, finals make me focus on my baby like nothing else does.)

IF YOU ARE NEW AND HAVE NO CLUE WHAT I'M ON ABOUT: Welcome! This is a rewrite. Don't read the old one, it's terrible and kind of spoilerish and I'm taking it down soon. I'm Alyss, Alex is currently doing his best imitation of a _pouting brat_ and giving me the cold shoulder so you'll meet him later, and this fic is basically my recurring Natsume Yuujinchou daydream made writing. It is also my baby, so ask nicely if you wanna hold it, and if you have a baby of your own with similar features or something PLEASE TELL ME SO I CAN GO ADORE AND COO AND MAKE FACES AT YOURS TOO 8D

Also, I ramble. Nice to meet you :3

Does this fic need warnings? Umm. Mild, canon-typical violence, and angst? And fluff —hopefully enough to choke on, but I'm not sure. Stuff. No romance, though, because Natsume is a TITCHY BRAT and manga-Matoba has never come across as a pedophile; I'm not too sure what the anime's getting at, but I SUBSCRIBE TO MANGA-CANON, so NATSUME HAS SILVER HAIR AND NO ONE IS GAY. NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH GAY. THAT IS ALL.

My lazy one-time disclaimer: I don't own Natsume Yuujinchou, but I'm treating it's ambiguous past as my current stomping grounds. No ayakashi were harmed in the making of this story, though a few (writer's) blocks may have been demolished in what I swear was a terrorist firebombing and a great many plotbunnies were slaughtered with _extreme_ prejudice.

* * *

Something strange was going on. It started a few days ago, Natsume thinks idly.

Well, okay, maybe it started even as far back as a last Sunday, he amends, since that was when all the youkai started looking nervous and whispering at each other. But he had done his best to ignore the agitated hissing, and his latest foster family's home is blissfully free of ayakashi, which he's grateful for. It gives him time to do his homework in peace, which he has already done, and to think, which is all he can really do on rainy days like this while he waits for the Rakuto couple to come home. They are on the young side of middle-aged, pouring themselves into their careers, and —he is peripherally aware— already looking for someone else to take him off their hands, because neither of them have the kind of time needed to look after a child, especially not one they're barely related to. Their home is a small, bare apartment that is less 'lived in' and more 'a place to sleep and cook' —and where he is forbidden from leaving once he comes back from the local elementary school. It lacks any real source of entertainment, so Natsume does his best to keep it tidy and whittle away the boredom with as little fuss as possible.

Which he is doing now. Which leads him back to his musings on the unusual happenings of late.

Perhaps things _started_ almost a week ago, but the first time Natsume really noticed something weird had been in the afternoon of his second day at the local elementary school, four days ago, when his mostly peaceful day (there was, after all, still some fuss about helping the new kid fit into the class —nothing he wasn't used to, though, not after switching schools so many times) had been interrupted by a _scream._ A scream that none of his classmates heard or reacted to. He'd jumped out of skin, because even if he hadn't _really_ heard anything either, it had _felt_ like a scream —all urgency and distress and _hereherehere_. He'd been edgy all through the day, but had gradually relaxed by the time dinner came around and still nothing had happened. He'd dismissed it as a one-time thing by the time he'd gone to bed.

That notion had been shot down when, in the middle of the night, another scream had jolted him awake —and given him the distinct impression that it was coming from a different location. He'd been nervous, but eventually managed to go back to sleep.

That Wednesday had been terrible, even by his usual something-wants-to-eat-me standards. The Scream happened _all the time_ , and just when he'd managed to relax a little, it would suddenly split the air and startle him all over again in a mentally exhausting cycle. People had begun to notice how twitchy he was being, which was bad, and even the _youkai_ he'd seen on his way to school had looked at him suspiciously, which was worse. But the very worst part of all was that he _still_ couldn't figure out _why_ it was happening, or even where it was coming from, since the source of it seemed to be a different spot each time. By the end of that day, his nerves had been a wrung-out mess, and he'd collapsed for some thankfully-uninterrupted sleep.

The next day was better, since the screaming had dwindled to almost nothing. He'd almost hoped that meant it would pass, but what youkai he could see all looked _even more_ unsettled and nervous. He kept an eye on them as best he could, and slept uneasily.

Yesterday had been _worse_. The screams had picked up a little, though nowhere near as often as before, but his skin was _constantly_ crawling. All throughout the day there were _eyes_ on him, following him, watching him, winding him up every time he got close to a window or went outside for recess until he felt like a spring stretched too far. No matter what he did, he couldn't figure out where the creepy feeling was coming from or what whatever-it-was wanted. He'd wondered if he was being paranoid, started _acting_ paranoid and looking over his shoulder every other minute, and every new scream became a trial on his frayed nerves.

The dawn of a new day had not abated the feeling any. He'd spent this entire Saturday holed up in the apartment to escape the rain, and could _still_ randomly feel that stare on his back and that each scream was somehow a warning of impending doom.

He also has the distinct, gut-twisting impression that they've been happening closer to the town lately. It's unnerving, _especially_ since he'd seen one of the few youkai —there didn't seem to be a lot hanging around this town, actually— promptly panic and run for cover after another one had sounded nearby, and couldn't figure out _why_.

Which leaves him where he is now: too exhausted to do study, too keyed-up to nap, and too unsettled to think of anything but the mystery on hand. Sighing, he shoves himself to his feet and searches for _anything_ to do. Maybe if he manages to exhaust himself enough with house chores and unpacking, he'll be able to actually sleep a little.

* * *

 _Hunting. Something was hunting, or being hunted, but the prey (hunter?) was being elusive and he couldn't pin them down, couldn't **find it**_ –

 _not to be seen not to be heard shut up **shut up**_ **–**

Natsume jerks awake, breath rasping as he heaves in air like a man drowning in dream. The aftermath of a Scream lingers in the air, alarmingly close. Quietly, he pushes himself upright in his futon, and wipes the clammy sweat from his forehead. A glance at the living room clock (next to which he spreads his futon, since the Rakutos don't have a spare bedroom and Natsume is small enough to sleep in the space in front of the couch) shows that it is horribly early to be up, especially so given it's a Sunday; even the ever-busy Rakutos are still in bed. He collapses backwards with a muffled groan, and considers going back to sleep for an hour.

He is annoyed, and doesn't try very hard not to be (because then he would be scared, and he's been feeling that way for _days_ , now). Nothing good comes of getting involved with youkai, he tells himself —and this undoubtedly has _something_ to do with the spirits— but he also wonders if he can really just leave this matter alone. It doesn't look like it's going to stop on its own, and it bothers him more than he cares to admit. He doesn't know if it's dangerous or harmless or a warning (though it certainly _feels_ like a warning), and even if he could screw up enough courage to ask one of the scary youkai about it, they'd been increasingly sparse of late —probably hiding from something (and isn't that a worrying thought?). He sighs, and burrows under the covers until he hears signs of waking from the bedroom.

He usually likes Sundays at the Rakuto household; the couple uses their day off to housekeep and relax, and today Natsume is allowed to be useful and actually talk to his relatives. So he spends the morning awkwardly trying to help out with sweeping and dusting while Auntie Arisa pretends not to give him the stink-eye and Uncle Yasu tries to make small-talk.

Once the laundry is done, he's released for the afternoon by Auntie Arisa (who he has mentally decided is some kind of cleaning fiend —not that he minds). Both the Rakutos have left him at home so that they can go and be social without lugging a kid around, and he is free to wander and visit the local park. The rain has left everything a little damp, so he is left alone; there are no kids to watch play, or youkai to bother him. Even the feeling of that watchful gaze is absent (something which happened only sporadically, and never for long), and Natsume can almost relax onto the swing. He manages a few minutes of peace before another Scream goes off —the first one that day, and almost frighteningly close. He jumps, startled, but quickly sinks back down and furtively checks to see if anybody had seen that.

Nothing. The park was still empty. He breathes a sigh of relief, which sharpens into annoyance, which slowly sinks into contemplation. He is curious, and bored, and that is the only reason he can later give for why he jumps off the swing and makes his way down the road to the outskirts of town.

* * *

Seiji treks through the woodlands, taking care not to slip on the slick patches of moss and mud. This job was proving to take longer than expected. He pauses for a moment to consult his mental map, and that's when he manages to catch a hint of muttering nearby. Silently, he searches out the source.

"I think it was... around here? Maybe this way?"

He comes to a halt at the sight of a little boy, no older than twelve and dressed in clothes a little too large for him, wandering slowly through the trees ahead. The child looks like he is searching for something, or perhaps trying to remember where something is. Seiji considers. Perhaps a boy from the nearby town? The child didn't _look_ like a spirit, but he had a strange aura...

The boy was also heading rather close to where he'd set his spell, and that was a problem better nipped in the bud. Let it never be said that Seiji was indecisive. Stepping forwards, he asks nonchalantly, "Have you lost something?" The boy jumps.

The first time Matoba Seiji and Natsume Takashi lock gazes, the world as they know it does not end. No one is kidnapped, no great alliance is struck, and youkai did not cower away from the sight the pair of them made. As it so happened, one of them was amused, a little bemused, and acting with an ulterior motive; and the other was floundering, uncertain in the face of what appeared to be concern, and far less suspicious than he should be.

Though neither knows it, that just about sums up the beginning of their friendship.

"Well?" Seiji prods. "What are you looking for? Maybe I can help; it's dangerous for children to go walking in the woods alone."

"Oh, uh, thank you, but I'm fine. I was just, uh," the boy casts about for an excuse. "Trying to find... a path?"

Seiji smiles as disarmingly as he can. "Oh? To where? I'm a bit new to the area, but I know these woods pretty well."

"Uh... To Hawamachi. I live there," the boy blurts, looking uneasy. "I got a little lost," he tacks on.

The nearby town. A local child, then; probably avoiding bullies, by the look of him. How boring. "It's that way; just keep the sun to your left, so you don't get lost. It isn't a good time to be wandering in these parts. Terrible things can happen to children who stray too far from home, after all," he tilts his head in a way that he knew made his smile look distinctly predatory, "so hurry along now, alright?"

The boy scurries off. Seiji watches him go, and hopes the warning will be taken seriously —at least for a few days. He hadn't lied; it was a dangerous time for normal humans to be in these woods, since a rather powerful youkai was being active right now. He also didn't need a clueless local calling attention to his spells, however unlikely that would be. It could make the situation rather troublesome, if he had to guard against humans interfering. With that in mind, he summons one of his shiki to him with a gesture.

"Follow that boy. Make sure he leaves the woods."

Orders given, he turns back to the task at hand. Brushing aside some branches, he steps over a low-hanging rope and into a small clearing. It is the work a few moments (and a lot of concentration) to reset the spell, and Seiji frowns thoughtfully at his handiwork. Over a full week since his quarry had first awakened, and the spells were still going off —which was not entirely outside the predictions made from its previous behavior, but still a bit surprising. What was more noteworthy, though, was that the ones going off tended to be near the town, which contradicted everything Seiji had heard about it being reclusive and avoiding humans. Were the spells reacting to a different spirit? In theory, only one youkai in the area should be powerful enough to set them off, but it was not a spell meant for tracking, and it was, frankly, not one he'd ever tested before —which was partly why he'd chosen this method, actually; he could use the practice. Conventional methods of locating this target had already been proven ineffective by exorcists more experienced than he.

He steps out of the cordoned-off space, and considers his next move. He hasn't been able to pin down a good location for an ambush, and he's not arrogant enough to think he'd manage to capture it in head-on confrontation —and even if he were, he'd still have to _find_ it first, which was proving a lot more difficult than he'd thought.

It all came back to whether he was even tracking the right youkai or not, Seiji decides. He might have wasted days setting up these spells, if they weren't doing what they were supposed to, and he was already working on borrowed time. He turns away from the manor, hidden deeper within the woods, where he had set up shop. He needed to investigate a few things before his time ran out.

* * *

 **A/N:** Present tense. Bleugh.

*I have no idea if Hawamachi is an actual place or what; I pulled it out of my very fashionable trilby after listening to the audio for the google translation of "river town" XD

In case you're wondering, Natsume is nine. Because, this was my train of thought: So I figured I wanted Natsume to be elementary-school-young (young enough to be dependent on others, but not so young as to be completely irrational and naïve) and arbitrarily made him ten, just because. And since this is ideally set as canon-minus-a-few-years(-with-a-few-twists), Seiji still has to be older by seven years, so I made him seventeen-which, okay, maybe a little closer to the throes of puberty than I'd wanted, but Seiji's a mature kid and being seventeen means Seiji's met Natori according to canon (which I'm going to treat as canon in this story too). And then, this terrible, brilliant plot bunny up and bit me —probably drawn by the pretty sparks thrown out from the clash of MATOBA THE ICHIMARU GIN EXCEPT AN EXORCIST and the thought of Puberty Drama— and suddenly Seiji was in high school —like, had a high school life and an actual location he attends and a reputation among his classmates, and not just kinda vaguely is somewhere in his second-or-third year of high school. Okay, fine, shelve that thought for way down later —in the sequel or something, maybe.

And then Alex threw an epic fit. Because, and I quote: if Seiji Is In A High School, then _Obviously_ He Has Classes, therefore WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING STALKING NATSUME DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR?

So um. Then I had to look up holidays that high schools have that elementary schools don't (in Japan, what even), or just holidays in general, and that basically turned into a crash course on The Japanese Skool System —and apparently the notions I used in the original fic were wildly inaccurate so it's actually an even worse fic than I initially thought, heh, whoops. But I looked, and I couldn't really find anything useable, so basically for the duration of this whole fic Matoba-kun is skipping classes with his family's permission while they cover bases at school —which Harunekonya-sensei (who is awesome and a kick-ass teacher and has basically cornered the market on must-read Yuujichou-fanfics and who you should all go shower with love because I'm pretty sure just mine is nowhere near enough to repay them for the help they had no obligation to give me, and without whom this fic would make so much less sense XP) tells me is neither common nor advisable, but I'm working with it because Seiji's family is filthy rich. They let him go at it mostly alone, though, because he's an old hat at the basic exorcist-fieldwork-things (ie. seal this one, exorcise that one) by this point and needs some more diverse experiences to grow —and the opportunity was both potentially profitable and a time-sensitive matter, for reasons. But then I checked the ages, and if Matoba-kun _is_ in his third year of high school, then he's supposed to be _super_ busy with entrance exams to universities and whatnot, so it's very unlikely he _could_ actually take the kind of time off that I'm planning on working with in this fic. Except, Natori says he started dabbling in actual exorcist-stuff when he was seventeen too and he introduced himself as being in his second year of high school in that one special short in the manga, so then I had to look up all their birthdays and _climate in Japan_ , because weather was not a Thing I wanted to deal with much. So, yeah, that's how this fic became set in spring sometime (somewhere between April and early May, a few weeks after the start of the school year and in the reportedly _mild_ spring of Japan), Natsume became nine, and Seiji became sixteen(-going-on-seventeen)-but-a-few-months-older-than-when-he-meets-Natori :) Which, by the way, means Natsume's beginning fourth grade, Seiji's beginning his second year in high school, and Natori's now beginning his third year in high school.

Then I realized that I did actual research for _fanfiction_ **WUT** I'm turning into such a nerd my god Alex Alex help me.

Next time: Matoba is a sneaky little thing who investigates. Natsume is also sneaky littler thing, but doesn't quite manage the same level of success.


	2. Snoopings

**A/N:** SO MANY NOTICES IN MY INBOX FOR MY SHODDY DEBUT CHAPTER. I LOVE YOU ALL.

I, um, realize my summary kind of sucks, (I assure you, I'm in the market for a better one) and that people who haven't read the terrible original probably aren't sure where this story is going. Like I said, it's basically my Yuujinchou daydream, just focused on things that could've been if Natsume had been recruited young by Matoba. Because, so far as I can tell, the biggest reason Natsume doesn't follow Matoba home in canon is because he's happy and settled at the Fujiwara's. But five, six years ago? Natsume has never even heard of them, and therein lies the basis of the daydream. (And Matoba over any other exorcist because. Matoba. He's just such a magnificent bastard, you've gotta adore him. You know what I'm talking about.)

[Congradulations, you've just traded a line of cryptic nonsense for an "actual summary" that doesn't _actually_ explain anything. They've already _read_ the first chapter; none of this is news. Well done, really.]

And ^that^, my lovelies, is Alex: my personal live-in editor. Alex, Shake.

[T_T Go suck a lemon.]

* * *

Natsume walks until the older boy is out of sight, and then some—just to be safe. Then he stops for a moment to steady his breathing, and to think. Something really _must_ be going on, and he wavers indecisively on whether or not he should turn back—dangerous, that guy (or maybe he was a youkai? He was wearing a black robe, after all, and had some kind of long package slung over his shoulder) had said, and Natsume believed him. But if he was out here already-

Something rustles behind him.

Natsume whirls around, and almost instantly spots the white-masked, child sized ayakashi. It's all black, dressed in white, and a handful of centimeters taller than he is. He stares fearfully at it, and for a long moment they stand in awkward silence. The ayakashi seems to be waiting for him to make a move, though, so Natsume ventures (in a voice that does _not_ shake, not even a little), "Wh-what do you want?"

The thing looks around in apparent confusion. Not seeing anyone else, it turns to Natsume and points at itself questioningly.

"Uh... Yes, I'm talking to you."

Natsume has the distinct impression that it would blink in puzzlement if it could (though, maybe it does. Natsume can't exactly see if it has eyes through the black holes in its mask). Then, it seems to finally register that Natsume can, in fact, see it —and then the thing makes an alarmed squawk (somehow forgoing the sound itself, all flailing limbs and panic) and dives into the closest bush. Natsume stares at it blankly for a second, before stifling a giggle at the very obvious white fabric peeking through the leaves. He edges a little closer.

"Do you... need something?" The mask pops out between the leaves, supported by an unnaturally thin neck, and Natsume gets the feeling that it's frowning at him in consternation. Radiating disapproval, it makes a shooing motion at him and ducks back between the leaves. "Umm..." Uncertainly, Natsume humors it and backs away slowly. He turns around properly after almost tripping over a tree root, though, and makes his way back towards town. Another rustle halts him, and he shoots a look over his shoulder because the ayakashi was _following him_.

"Why are you following me? What do you want?" He calls to the tree trunk it's taken cover behind, but gets no response. Squaring up his shoulders, he marches over, prepared to give it a piece of his mind if it didn't leave him alone.

"Wah!"

What he _didn't_ expect was for it to jump out at him, grab him by the arms, and forcibly turn him around. By the time Natsume processes what had happened, the thing is already shoving him none too gently onwards, and Natsume panics. Squirming desperately, limbs thrashing, he yells, _"Let_ me _go!"_

The sound of clay cracking shatters the forest silence.

* * *

Seiji hails down a pair of beast youkai—a white mouse and a snake, it seems, both upright and vaguely humanoid. They are also the first intelligent spirits he has seen all day.

"Oh? I haven't seen you before! Are you new?" The rodent squeaks enthusiastically. It continues before Seiji has a chance to respond, tugging at the sleeve of its companion —the highest point it can reach. "Look, look, a new friend! We didn't get many these last few days!"

 _"New~ new~_ " The serpent hisses, head bobbing back and forth hypnotically on its scaly neck as it appraises him thoughtfully behind its mask.

...Of course, _intelligent_ is a term he uses loosely. Biting back the urge to fiddle with the paper mask, —he's unaccustomed to them; he doesn't usually have to resort to _talking_ with the things, after all, and there are only so few people his age who attend the exorcist Gatherings anyways— he smiles. "Yes, I'm new. Do you mind telling me about these woods? Anything dangerous, or places I should avoid?"

"Yes yes yes! I know all the annoying spirits and dangerous places —like those berry bushes that look tasty but are actually poisonous and that stupid cat by the lake who thinks it's _all that_ just because it's a little bigger, just wait till I grow up some more and I'll put that arrogant feline in its place, just you watch!" It's whip-like tail lashes back and forth in its excitement as it bounces in place. "But maybe you want to see the ravine? It's a bit further in, and it's _really_ easy to miss the edge and fall right over, I must've done it dozens of times, here follow me and I can show-"

The snake interrupts by firmly placing a clawed hand (maybe it was some sort of lizard, instead?) on its companion's head, right between where it's hair was done up in two small buns, before it could rush off.

 _"Ssshadow~ danger~"_

"Shadow?" Seiji prompts. His interest in the conversation ( _interrogation_ , he tells himself sternly) sharpens for the first time.

"Oh, right! I guess you wouldn't know. I don't think anyone knows it's actual name, but there's this reclusive ayakashi that lives near here and likes to hunt low-ranks like us. It wakes up once in a while and steals a few youkai and goes back to sleep. We call it Shadow-sama. Or Hunter-sama. Or That Guy."

Seiji spares a moment to reconsider relying solely on ayakashi that could not betray him. If he took on a personal shiki that could speak, he wouldn't have to deal with this idiocy himself. "Do you know where it lives or what it looks like? So I can avoid it."

"Wellll..."

 _"No one~ knowsss~"_

"Yeah, that's right. I don't know anyone who's seen it properly, or we'd have a better name than 'That Guy', but I've heard that it can fly and is almost as big as a _tree!_ Most of us just hide when we see signs that it's awoken, and then only the ignorant or the _really brave_ come out for a while, y'know," and Seiji bit back a 'Really now? Then what does that make you?' while the snake grumbled under its breath about stupidity. "But it looks like it's not hunting in the forest this time! It's weird, but the tanuki near the river says that a sparrow from the city told it that That Guy was picking off ayakashi near the city. Which doesn't make sense, since it's always avoided humans before, but That Guy was always a little odd to begin with —why would anybody avoid _everybody?"_

"Then, are you _sure_ they're the same one?"

 _"Yesss~"_ The snake replied while the mouse nodded enthusiastically.

"It's gotta be! No one gets a good look at it, and youkai that disappear are found a few days later really drained and with no memories. Some of the really weak ones don't even come back!" It drooped for a second. "That's what happened to my baby cousin."

"I see. ...Thank you for informing me." The lie sits awkwardly on his tongue, but he smiles through it. The snake stares at him intently, possibly sensing something amiss, but the mouse cheerfully dismisses his thanks.

"Hey, hey, so do you wanna see that ravine I was talking about? Or maybe the river! There's this part where the water flows through that looks _really_ pretty when the sun goes dow-"

" _Need~ go~"_ The snake interrupts, turning its companion and ushering them both away from Seiji. Ignoring the smaller youkai's protests, it shoots him a suspicious look over its shoulder. Seiji gives a small wave; no need to appear overtly impolite, after all.

"Goodbye. Perhaps I'll see you around." Not likely.

The pair leave, and Seiji summons a shiki and hands off the irritating paper mask. He pivots on his heel to leave himself, but pauses as something catches his attention. "Oh...?" He murmurs softly, because there is something hiding behind the shrubbery to his right. "Come out, whatever you are," he calls, striding towards it. A quick move reveals nothing but disturbed branches, though, and he frowns.

(Elsewhere, Natsume darts through the trees. "Uh-oh," he'd thought frantically, before he'd bolted without looking back. He doesn't stop, though, because he's not stupid enough to think this particular ayakashi will let him get away twice. Maybe he'd be better off just heading home, today.)

Seiji moves on. It seems his spells _are_ working, so there is nothing more he can do here. Best to head to the manor, then. Calling his creations to him, he begins the trek back. He doesn't make it more than ten paces before he stops.

There were three ayakashi in the trees around him.

Where was the fourth?

* * *

The next day is a Monday, and Natsume has classes. He barely pays attention to them, distracted by the things he'd overheard.

(It costs him, a little, when the teacher calls on him to read and he doesn't know where the class is. He gets some grief from the other students for it —clearly, they have cottoned on to the fact that there is something unwanted and unnatural in their midst. It takes them longer than Natsume expected, to be honest.)

The Scream had happened again, right at the end of lunch. He barely even starts at the feeling anymore. He can almost pinpoint where it's coming from, now; he's had a lot of practice. It's rather close to the school; he could be there and back at the empty apartment with plenty of time to spare.

By the time school lets out for the day, he's made up his mind to at least check it out. He's got to be more careful this time, though. His last attempt at snooping could have ended _very_ badly; what if he hadn't noticed that he was being followed, or if he'd been caught eavesdropping by the scary youkai? Despite this, however, he still hasn't figured out the source of the screaming or the eyes-following-me feeling, or how to make them _stop_ (even if he _had_ overheard some interesting information), so he's decided. He's going to check out where the screams are coming from, maybe figure out how to turn it off or make it stop, and run or hide if he happens across any tree-big shadowy ayakashi (which is really just common sense). It's not much, but having a plan at all makes him feel a bit better —enough that a tiny part of himself bubbles up and wants to laugh in giddy excitement at the thought of an _adventure_. He chides himself, tells himself that this is serious and not a game, but he's smiling a little despite that as he steps off the path to _safe (but not home)_ and into the forest wilderness.

* * *

Natsume finds the clearing less than an hour later. It's just a scant few meters off another trail, and this close, he can almost hear the ground _humming._

There is a rope, hung unobtrusively between four trees to make a square, and a circle, edged by weird symbols and drawn in the middle of the open space. There are also four ofuda attached to the trees, and it takes Natsume a moment before he realizes how they're positioned —one each for north, south, east, and west. He steps cautiously over the rope, and frowns a little. Had a youkai done this? What for? How did these ...things, how did they work? How does he stop them—does he even want to?

He doesn't quite know what to do. He paces the clearing a few times, carefully avoiding the circle and the rope. He thinks he recognizes an eye in amongst the symbols, —and maybe a sun?— but most are meaningless squiggles, so he turns to the ofuda next. They are set high, well above his eye level, but if he squints he can almost read them. Then he notices—is that tape?

Slightly incredulous—because what kind of youkai uses _tape_ to hold up a piece of paper?—Natsume reaches up and tries to lift the corner of the tag up, to check.

The clear stuff that he'd mistaken for tape destabilizes at his touch, and the ofuda slowly flutters down past his wide, wide eyes. The humming screeches brokenly, like a string snapped on a koto mid-performance.

The clearing _explodes._

* * *

 **A/N:** Cliffhanger! *cues diabolical laughter*

I am drawing rather heavily from that special chapter where Natori meets Matoba for the first time. So much character things going on there for lil' Matoba. My little-Natsume might be a bit rusty, though; I should maybe touch up on that.

GUYS, don't worry if the progression of days is a little iffy. I (meaning Alex) have this giant timeline thing all written up, and I'm going to be posting that at some point after all the drama is over, so no worries~

Yes, I'm totally using Matoba's shiki as comic relief. He actually _is_ still training them (which is where that excuse eventually comes from, in my head-canon) and they're all child-sized because they're prototypes and Seiji is just not as strong as he will be, so yeah my head-canon includes this utterly hilarious image where chibi!Matoba is scolding them like a pissed-off, nagging parent and they're all lined up on their knees with their heads hanging like little schoolboys XDDD He has to go through a few batches before he manages to develop some that are appropriately intimidating (because the little ones are _too cute_ to manage that properly) and train them to his liking—meaning, mindless unless it suits him for them to be intelligent. (Obviously, the intelligence part needs tweaking.)

#Because canon!Matoba has all these shiki that unsettle people and that is just the kind of thing I _need_ to poke fun at

[An ofuda is a piece of paper (or cloth) with kanji (the traditional Japanese text) written on it and is often used for protection of some sort. Exorcists use them quite frequently in the manga. A koto is a bit like an Asian harp. Obviously, we have never heard an actual one played, so that analogy might not be be perfectly accurate, but for the story's purposes it doesn't matter. Feel free to replace the word with violin, or piano, or any stringed instrument of your choice; see if I care.

We actually do have finals, so do not expect an update for some time. We _will_ be studying.]

Alex, you are such a party pooper I can't take you anywhere ugh.

Next time: Seiji happens. Natsume is rescued —or kidnapped, depending on your point of view.


	3. An Owl Happens

**A/N:** Hiya~! Merry- ...holiday season. If you're not a Christmas person.

Okay, so maybe I lied like a filthy liar and I just _might_ 've failed all my finals this week because I was writing fanfiction. Aren't you proud of me?

I feel like I'm going excruciatingly slowly, which doesn't even make sense considering that I _know_ stuff is happening. I just. This is more plotty than anything I've done before, though with less feels (so far). Maybe it's because I haven't reached the interesting bits yet.

GUYS GUYS I HAVE MY FIRST REVIEWER! 8D WinterBreezeDragon010, thanks muchly! It's great to hear you're still enjoying this!

* * *

It takes him a long, long time before Natsume comes back to himself enough to blink his eyes open, and even longer to process that he's face-down on the ground, fallen like a puppet with its strings cut. He's lucky his head was tilted to the side enough to keep from getting a mouthful of dirt, because he can't quite remember how to move, thinks he might puke or pass out properly if he tries. Even conscious breathing is a bit beyond him.

His ears are ringing, his body tingles and trembles, and his head feels sore, like a giant bruise on his brain. His pulse thuds in his neck and his temple, and he focuses on that to center himself.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

He draws in a shaky breath, lungs expanding as far as he can make them, and thinks a bit clearer for it. He's not... actually hurt. He thinks. At least, he doesn't feel like he's in any bodily pain, aside from something throbbing behind his eyes that the words 'massive headache' might just _barely_ cover. Though there was something hard digging into his shoulder and he should maybe look into that.

So he... needs to move. Right? Right. He frowns, and with a concentrated force of effort, manages to curl his fingers. Pleased, he relaxes them, and gives himself a moment to breathe. Then, bracing himself, he pushes vaguely _up,_ and ends up flat on his back instead.

"Ugh..." A little maneuvering, and he's almost sitting upright. Score. He's still in the clearing, so nothing's carted him off while he was out of it. Okay. The shadows look... a bit longer. Than they're supposed to. "Oh no," he breathes in dismay.

How long has he been here? Maybe an hour? More urgent now, he pushes himself to his feet, stumbling as his legs threaten to collapse beneath him. He catches himself on a tree, but a glance upward shows that it is one of the tagged trees, and he snatches his hands back—just in case. The clearing isn't humming anymore, which is a bit of a relief, but he's rather leery of upsetting anything further. He knows where the screams are coming from now, sorta (though standing in the middle of one as it goes off is very, very different from feeling it from far away), and he'd best get back to the Rakuto's before some curious ayakashi comes and finds-

"Oh? You again?"

Speak of the devil.

Acutely aware of the trembling in his limbs, he straightens and turns to see the thing emerging from the undergrowth.

* * *

Seiji stops, just beyond the rope boundary, when he spots the thing inside. It's pushing itself to its feet, back to him. He decides now is as good a time as any to make his presence known, and calls out.

He examines the youkai critically from behind his smile. The apparent-boy is dressed like any other child from the local elementary school, even toting a backpack, and he privately admits that the disguise is rather well done—had they passed each other on the street, he probably wouldn't have given it so much as a second glance.

Of course, they're not on a street, and Seiji doesn't let himself be taken in by the illusion. Twice now he's caught this "little boy" lurking near his spells, and Seiji is not a man who believes in coincidences —especially not where ayakashi are involved.

"And what might you, _child_ ," he mocks, "be doing in these woods again?"

The thing tenses, eyes a little wild, and Seiji knows the look of something about to bolt. He can't have that. A single gesture, and a shiki of his intercepts the boy and tackles it to the ground when it tries to flee. Ignoring its struggles, Seiji mildly comments, "I'm afraid you're not going anywhere until I get some answe-"

The boy manages to wrench himself enough room to solidly plant a foot in his creation's gut, and a follow-up fist to its mask. The mask loses.

They both pause for a second, taken aback and staring at the downed ayakashi in surprise.

( _Useless_ , he'd thought when he'd discovered one of his shiki knocked out cold in the middle of the forest. Now, he amends the thought; perhaps his creations weren't too weak to be of use. Perhaps it had been simply outclassed, and alone.)

"Interesting." His smile widens. Perhaps he can use this youkai for something. Discreetly slipping a seal out of his sleeve, he motions towards the boy. "Get it." His other ayakashi slip out of the trees and _converge,_ and the boy panics. A quick flick of his wrist and a small touch of power, and his tag neatly trips the thing up for his servants to pin down.

Before they manage it, though, something large and distinctly bird-like flows into the clearing. It weaves between his spirits like a rush of air, knocking them around like tumbleweed, and scoops up his quarry. A heartbeat later, they are gone —and Seiji can't tell which way they'd fled.

He scans the trees, scans the skies, and finds nothing. He suspects tracking them will be an effort in futility. "Find them," he orders anyway, and his shiki take off into the undergrowth.

* * *

There are talons firmly wrapped around him and the ground is a long way down. His heart is in his throat because oh kami he's flying, he's _actually flying_ and the trees are blurring beneath him and this might be the fastest he's ever moved in his _life_ and it's terrifying (it's amazing). He wants to laugh, wants to scream. He manages neither.

Soon (too soon) they have landed, he is set down with surprising gentleness. He finally gets a good look at his rescuer. It's some kind of bird youkai (no surprise there), and stands tall enough that he has to crane his neck back to see it properly. It's a mottled gray-brown and has, bizarrely, four legs (a pair of which are set higher on its torso and tucked close against its chest), along with a long fluttering tail and a flat, heart-shaped white face. The bird's beak is large and short, and is really less of a beak and more like two huge plates of pointy face armor around its mouth that are taking over its lower head, with a pair of giant amber eyes set above them. Those eyes are fixed unblinkingly on him, and he fidgets nervously.

"Did... did you save me?"

 _"Hmm."_

"Well, thank you."

It makes a dismissive motion, still staring, and doesn't acknowledge the thanks. " _You are the human who can See._ " It hoots instead, dry as bone and all rasping teeth coupled with clacking beak.

"I..." He swallows nervously and edges away a little, though from what he's seen of its' speed this isn't a youkai he can outrun. "Um. Yes. ...You know me?"

" _I do. I suspected you were an exorcist, since humans who can see usually become such. But if you are, then you are a particularly helpless one."_ It looms, tendrils of shadow seeming to slither menacingly from its feathers, and Natsume's vision fills with amber as it leans down. _"So._ Are _you?"_

Natsume meeps. "N-no, I don't think so, I mean, I can see youkai, but I don't-I've never-uh," he tries to shut up, "...no?"

 _"I'd thought as much. It is good to be certain."_ The giant bird nods once in satisfaction, and Natsume can breathe normally again. It raises its head, unerringly seeking out the sun through the canopy. _"It grows late. Human children are not to be out after-lights alone, I believe. Go home."_ It turns away with a little flick of its wing, feathers trailing gracefully, and Natsume knows a dismissal when he hears one. He meekly nods his acquiescence, a little relieved, and takes a good look at his surroundings.

...He has no idea where he is.

"Ah." The bird pauses at the involuntary noise of distress, and its' head swivels almost all the way around to look at him. Natsume hesitates, but it had already helped him once, so... "Um, can you tell me where we are?"

 _"You... do not know where we are."_ A flash of displeasure crosses the youkai's face. Natsume cringes a little, but nods at the not-question. _"...And human children cannot fly."_ It heaves a put-upon sigh. Natsume hangs his head contritely.

 _"Follow me."_ It turns in a new direction and glides through the forest, disturbing not a single leaf in its passing. Natsume scrambles to keep up, and feels incredibly loud and clumsy in comparison.

They walk in relative silence. Natsume loses sight of the bird a few times —its' feathers are a rather drab color, and its' stillness complete enough to pass for a tree trunk or a shadow— but the youkai waits for him to catch up patiently. They reach the road, and Natsume quietly informs it that he can find his own way from here, but the youkai keeps walking with him anyways.

Out of the woods, it looks a little less forboding, more pedestrian—like any other large youkai he might've spotted on the way to school.

"Hey. What's your name?"

It gives him an odd look; like he's surprised it somehow. It hums thoughtfully. _"The others call me Shadow, but I have no attachment to the name. You may call me what you wish."_

Shadow? _That_ Shadow? Natsume blanches a little, but reminds himself that this youkai had still saved him and he should be grateful. It helps, but not by much. Although...

He manages to say, around the tightness in his chest, "Then, can I call you Fukuro-san?"

 _"I have no objections."_

"Um, Fukuro-san... Why did you help me?"

It rolls an eye down to look at him, observing him coolly. _"You were not defending yourself—you are not a exorcist. I had no reason not to. A_ _nd, I... have a question for_ _you."_ It swivels its head towards him and eyes him keenly. _"I have been watching you for some time, but still I do not see. Why are you always alone? You do not appear dangerous or powerful in the ways humans fear, nor do you act in ways that I believe humans disapprove of in others."_

Natsume blinks. "Wait, _you're_ what's been watching me?" He stumbles for a second, nearly tripping, and the youkai casually catches him with a foot. It looks considering as it digests his words.

 _"So you could tell. I had wondered. You must See better than most."_ It tosses its head once, as if flicking the thought away. _"Irrelevant. You have not answered my question."_

"I... don't know. Why, I mean."

 _"You are lying."_ It rasps, eyes darkening dangerously. _"I do not enjoy being lied to, human. If you do not wish to answer, then say you do not wish to answer."_

"S-sorry. It's not that I don't _want_ to say, I just... don't really know how." Natsume scuffs a shoe against the ground, looking down. He mutters, "People think I'm creepy. I'm not normal, so they don't like me."

 _"Because you can See?"_ Fukuro scoffs. _"Humans. I don't understand them. At least ayakashi have the sense to respect talent and power for what it is."_ Noting that Natusme looks rather surprised, it adds severely, _"_ _Humans are fools._ _This should not be news. ...But then, I suppose_ _you_ _are human too. Such a waste of power, you are."_

"Oh." Natsume shrinks into himself a bit. _But there are humans who are kind, too_ , he wants to say. He doesn't.

 _"...Though,"_ it tacks on slowly, as though talking to itself. It slants Natsume an unreadable look. _"I suppose you could be worse."_ It makes a derisive motion. _"At the very least, you don't go about arrogantly abusing it. The exorcists would love someone like you_ — _and likely stab you in the back once it suited them. They do covet their power so..."_

Natsume perks up a bit. "You said that before. Do you mean there are really exorcists? Other people who can see youkai too?" He asks, and perhaps he sounds a little too eager because Fukuro gives him the stink-eye. It stares Natsume down for a long moment, before making a rude sort of noise and looking ahead.

 _"There have always been exorcists_ _—more in the past than now_ _. Meddlesome, dangerous pests. Hurting ayakashi and driving us from our homes and so, so greedy."_ It rustles its feathers crossly. _"Some can See. Some are too weak to manage even that, and still they are arrogant and shameless enough to hunt us down and order us about and seal us. Disgusting creatures, exorcists. Things would be better without them."_

Natsume's expression dims as the bird goes on. "Oh," he says, and stops because they have reached the street he's staying on. He doesn't pause to consider his next words before he blurts out, "Wait, but don't you hurt other youkai too?"

 _"Don't compare me to them,"_ it snaps waspishly. _"Feeding and greed are different. I do not hunt because I_ want _to, but because I_ need _to, if I am to exist. Normally I do not take more than the prey can give, but hunting has been scarce this cycle. Something is interfering, so catching youkai has become... difficult. And hunting humans is just asking to bring the exorcists down on your head, even if none of them die."_ Fukuro makes a disparaging noise in the back of its throat. _"I suppose humans are such weaklings that they have learned they must respond swiftly to threats to survive. Though I might have to chance it regardless, if this goes on."_

"You eat people?!"

 _"In a manner of speaking."_ It gives him an assessing look, and Natsume feels a pit drop in his stomach. _"All sufficiently powerful ayakashi are capable of it. You'd probably be tasty, with power as you have."_

"Ah. R-right." The apartment building was _right there_ , if he could get inside the bird was probably too big to follow. He edges away, trying to be discrete about it. "Well, thank you again for sav-" the words end in a shriek. Natsume darts away as Fukuro lands where he'd been standing, and takes off down the street. He doesn't make it far before something crashes into him, stealing the breath from his lungs and knocking him down. He finds himself looking up at the youkai's perfectly composed face.

 _"Hmm..."_ It rumbles, head tipped to one side as if considering how best to savor this, and Natsume feels sick. He twists desperately, but his limbs are pinned and there is a claw wrapped around his throat. His fear spikes, mounting higher and higher as the thing leans closer, slowly, slowly...

And suddenly it drains away. Natsume blinks in surprise for a moment, struggles ceasing because he's... not... afraid. Fukuro hoots out quiet, harsh laughs as it steps backwards and allows Natsume to climb to his feet, which Natsume does cautiously, a little shaky.

"What...?" He coughs, and manages to dredge up something like indignation. "What was _that_?!"

The laughter dwindles to the occasional chuckle. The bird looks... a bit bigger, now that Natsume thinks about it. " _That... is how I feed."_ It gives Natsume an amused look. _"I'd forgotten how pure emotion tastes. You humans have the most amusing reactions."_

"So you just wanted me to be scared?" He doesn't quite reach exasperation, adrenaline still clogging his thoughts, but he makes a good show of it. "You could have just _asked!_ "

 _"Are you saying you would have agreed if I did?"_

"...maybe. If you asked nicely and _told me_ , I don't think I'd have said no."

 _"You... are telling the truth."_ For a moment Fukuro looks absolutely stunned, before something satisfied and almost _warm_ crosses its features. It warbles a soft laugh. _"Most certainly_ _not_ _an exorcist. I think I like you, child."_ Shaking the expression away, it continues, _"But if I'd told you, it would not have worked as well. And I took the fear with me, did I not?"_ It gently nudges him towards the apartment with a wing. _"Go rest. We shall meet again."_

Natsume watches as it turns with a dramatic little sweep of its wing and flies away, before turning back to his building. Feeling rather subdued, he makes his way up to his floor, and lets himself in with the spare key he was given. He dumps his bag and shoes in the entryway and collapses lengthwise on the couch.

He doesn't want to move. He's feeling oddly apathetic, actually, now that his blood is no longer singing in his veins. Maybe he's just tired; today has been a lot of everything, after all. He sighs, throwing an arm over his eyes and, while he doesn't quite fall asleep, he rests. Just for a bit.

(Back in the clearing, Seiji distractedly notes the return of each of his shiki, all empty-handed, as he examines a fallen ofuda. His eyes narrow in thought—and interest. _Someone's interfering._ This merited investigation.)

He is filthy, Natsume suddenly realizes half an hour later, and he scrambles to shower the dirt out of his hair and scrub to worst of the it from his clothes. He's just barely finished fumbling through his homework when he hears Aunt Arisa come home, and gets up to greet her.

Natsume has all but fallen asleep when he abruptly realizes—he doesn't feel eyes on him anymore. ...He's not sure how he feels about that.

* * *

 **A/N:** That headache stuff in the beginning? Mostly just sensory overload, guys. Spiritual energy (youki?) is not something chibi!Natsume is used to; even canon!Natsume has the occasional bit of trouble with it. (I'm talking specifically about Volume 13, in the Matoba Branch House when Natsume feels sick at the overpowering presence of so many powerful people and shiki, though I'm sure there are more instances.)

ARGH PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE CONVERSATIONS LIKE THESE IN REAL LIFE HOW DO I EVEN SWING THIS SO CRAZY AWKWARD *cries tears of pure frustration* Natsume stop trying to be polite to it that's not what I want you to say there how do you even do polite in Japan *deep breath* *exhale* ...Okay. I'm okay.

I feel like pointing and going "HEY LOOK U GUYS THINGS R HAPPENING 8D". The focus of this fic is supposed to be Natsume and _Matoba_ , though. Stop being so antisocial, both of you! Gahhh I need to lock these two in a room until they play nice. *Makes wringing-someone's-neck motion* And maybe confiscate Seiji's fancy toys while I'm at it.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure "shiki" is Japanese for "servant" or some equivalent. I'm using it specifically to refer to ayakashi; there are no human shiki as far as I'm concerned. And "Fukuro" basically means owl, to the best of my knowledge. Yes, Fukuro is basically a ginormous barn owl with a bit more gray than usual, and a lower-face-mask that thinks it's a beak. And a Phoenix-type tail. And glowy amber eyes instead of solid black, just because. (Natsume names a lucky cat what basically amounts to "Teacher Meow" in canon. Do not judge me.)

***TO MY OLD READERS (if any of you are out there): Yeah, no, Fukuro's still there. Just, kinda, repurposed.

Next time: The spirits have an encore, and end their turn. Your move, Matoba.


	4. An Exorcist Happens

**A/N:** Hiya~! Uh, Merry actually-barely-still-Chistmas?

A warning I probably should have given before: Possible Botching of Japanese Suffixes. I AM NOT JAPANESE PEOPLE. I'M NOT EVEN PROPERLY ASIAN. I JUST READ MANGA; FORGIVE ME FOR I MAY HAVE NO ACTUAL CLUE WHAT THE HECK I'M DOING HERE.

...That said, TVTropes has a very helpful page on Japanese suffixes XP Research is apparently going to be a thing this go-around.

* * *

Natsume wakes up the next day feeling tired, because his sleep had been interrupted by a slew of—well, he guesses they're some kind of spell. Anyways, they'd been going off all throughout the early morning, and by the time he has to actually leave for school he's been awake for hours.

He feels something watching him as soon as he steps outside. Frowning, he looks around, and a moment later Fukuro materializes at the end of the street. Natsume trots towards it.

 _"You really can tell,"_ it muses, and Natsume thinks it might sound a little bemused.

"Fukuro-san," he greets. He stops a fair distance away, though, just in case. "Um, did you want something?"

It starts walking, and Natsume follows it down the path to school. _"Nothing in particular. It simply seems a waste of effort to continue concealing myself."_ Natsume frowns, but it continues before he can wonder why it's still following him. _"You... appear tired."_

There is an odd note buried in the neutrality, but Natsume can't quite place it. He hesitantly nods. "Mhmm. I didn't sleep well, there was this—thing, this thing that kept waking me up. I think it's some kind of spell."

 _"...Ah. I should have realized you could feel them too. My apologies, I will try to finish testing them today."_

"Huh? ...Wait, _you're_ what's making those things go off?"

 _"They seem to react to my presence, and mine alone. It makes stealth difficult to come by."_ Fukuro sounded rather cross. It continues, _"That_ _was how I found you, yesterday. It was not my doing, that one time."_ It turns an unblinking stare on Natsume. _"How did you manage that?"_

"Oh, uh..." Natsume rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I was trying to figure out where they were coming from, and tracked one down to see. I kind of... disrupted it, I guess? One of the ofuda came off when I touched it, and that probably messed up the setup somehow..." Natsume trails off, a little hesitant as he takes in Fukuro's grim countenance.

 _"You said... Describe what you found."_

The youkai's expression steadily darkens as Natsume goes on, telling it about the rope and the magic circle and the papers unnaturally stuck to trees. _"That... sounds much like the work of an exorcist."_

"An exorcist? You mean, there's one here?" Natsume isn't sure if there's anything hopeful in his tone—his feelings on the matter were a bit of a conflicted mess. Because he _wants_ to meet them, someone who can see the same things as him—but at the same time, if even half of what Fukuro so strongly believes is true...

 _"Perhaps."_ Fukuro says, before Natsume can sink too deep into his thoughts. _"It may yet be something else. I have not seen the spell myself; and to the ignorant, the rituals of humans and ayakashi are not dissimilar. I am not aware of anything that would bring the wrath of an exorcist here, and though I have been setting off the spells for some time now, nothing has come of it. It may be some clever method of the weaker youkai to counter me. ...Though, if it truly is an exorcist, it will not be safe to hunt ayakashi either. They avenge their shiki, from pride if nothing else."_ It looks somewhere between sullen and annoyed. Then it turns to Natsume, and its' features turn speculative.

Natsume backs away slowly. "If you jump on me again, I'm going to pull out all your tail feathers," he tries. It doesn't come out very threateningly, and he flushes while Fukuro warbles a laugh.

 _"As it so happens, I'd intended to ask this time, child. You did say I could,"_ it reminds him. Natsume shifts, a bit uncertain... but it wasn't as though it had _hurt_ either, last time.

"Are you going to try and scare me again if I agree?"

 _"I may. The emotion itself doesn't much matter, aside from flavor; power is power, and I have few preferences. Human emotion is always so much_ more _than ayakashi's, so you shouldn't even lose anything important from it."_

Fukuro eyes him seriously. _"You do not have to agree,"_ it says, and something in the way it speaks tells him that it does not really expect him to. _"I can hunt a few others and take everything of them instead, then wait out the exorcist and try again later."_

"You mean... you're going to eat all of a spirit? So that they disappear?"

 _"Hmm. Usually I cough the prey up before that point, and what is left is enough to eventually continue as they were. It would not do to frighten everyone away, after all, and the denizens of these woods are a merry, hardy lot; nothing is truly lost. But I cannot afford that tactic anymore."_ It gives him a shrewd look. _"But you have not given me your answer."_

"...If I do this, will you still have to go after other youkai?"

 _"Not for a long while; I would have no need. Helpless as you are, your power would still be sufficient. ...Would it change anything, if I did? Humans do not usually concern themselves with those they do not recognize."_

"But... I can see you. All of you. And you helped me, before. So... So I can't just leave you alone, if I can do something." Natsume says softly. He looks up, meeting the owls' eyes, and and nods decisively, "I'll do it. What... what do you want me to do, Fukuro-san?"

 _"You..."_ It stares. Natsume forces himself not to look away, even if he's feeling incredibly nervous about the whole thing, even with doubts clawing up his throat almost faster than he can swallow them down. Fukuro looks away first, by way of breaking out into harsh, wracking laughs that somehow completely lack ridicule. Natsume finds himself flushing anyways. _"You, child, are full of surprises,"_ it wheezes.

 _"...Thank you."_

It straightens, and comes to a stop in the middle of the road to face Natsume properly. It says, _"I believe I have a better method for this, at least."_ It leans down and lowers its' voice, as if imparting a great secret. _"You have a little time before you must reach the building at the end of these woods, child, do you not? ...How would you like to go flying?"_

* * *

School has let out for the day and Eiji wants to go home, but they're going to the park today because Dad has some important work he needs to finish in peace and because Dai wants to. Eiji makes a face.

"Hey, look. Isn't he that new kid?" Chiyo interrupts his musing, motioning to the boy walking a little ahead of them. They focus on him, squinting.

"Oh, yeah, it is! He's that weird transfer student. I think his name is Natsume." Dai nods.

"Yes, he's in my class. Natsume Takashi. He's a little strange—and twitchy _all the time_." As if on cue, the other kid twitches sharply, like he'd been shocked, before walking on like nothing'd happened.

(A short flight away, an owl comes to a quick rest. _Another one,_ it thinks _,_ tipping its' head to one side. Then it spreads its' wings and, deliberately, methodically, it takes off in another direction to continue its search.)

"...Aki-sensei said he's passed between families a lot. Apparently he gets into trouble all the time, and no one wants him." Eiji shifts his bag a little higher, and then adds, "Mom says he lies, and acts weird and stuff, for attention."

"Lies? Like what?" Chiyo prods.

Eiji draws himself up importantly, because he _never_ found out stuff about people before Chiyo did. "Like, saying he can see youkai, or suddenly screaming at nothing."

"See youkai? That's so stupid. _Hey look, there's an oni in those bushes! WoooOOOooo~_ " Dai laughs, wiggling his fingers like those weird bed-sheet ghosts did with their hands and pretending to sneak up on Chiyo. As she giggles and Eiji rolls his eyes, Eiji catches Natsume glancing back at them. He nudges his friend.

"Hey, quiet down. He can hear you," he mutters. Dai scoffs.

"So what? Hey! Natsume, right?" Dai dashes forward, pulling a little ahead of the other boy. Eiji stops Chiyo from following with a hand on her arm and a quiet, "Mom says I'm not supposed to play with him."

She shrugs at him. "It's okay. We're not _playing_ with him, I just wanna meet him. Besides, it'd be rude not to even say hello, right?" She trots over to where Natsume is looking increasingly uncomfortable the longer Dai blabbers on. "Hi," she cuts into Dai's introductions. "Eiji-kun over there says you tell the grown-ups you can see youkai."

"Um…" Natsume —huh, he actually looks kinda pale, close up— fidgets. "Where'd he hear that?"

They were _talking about him_ and he was _right here_. He scowls. "From my mom," he interjects with a huff. "She told me when you moved in with Rakuto-san; we live just a few streets away, and Mom's friends with her."

"Oh." Natsume looks down, like the way Dai did whenever he was in trouble with a teacher. "Yeah, I… see them." They blink at him as one, but Natsume doesn't say anything more.

"What, so you actually _do_ believe in youkai?" Dai snorts. Natsume flinches.

"Youkai don't exist," Eiji frowns. Chiyo chimes in her agreement.

"How would that even work?" Dai was continuing, waving his hands around to make his point clear. "I mean, they're just stories, no one thinks they're real. That's stupid."

"But Naoki-chan's uncle is a monk, he works in a temple," Chiyo adds uncertainly. "He got her a charm on New Year's for her house. So some people think they exist, maybe."

Dai was already waving a hand dismissively. "That's different—that's for, like, good luck and stuff like that. And I bet her uncle doesn't think they exist either; has he ever seen one? What does he even do? Chant and stick papers on things?' Dai turns mischievous eyes on Natsume, who was trying to sneakily walk on ahead. "Hey, maybe if we make an ofuda and stick it on him, he'll stop talking about youkai! Here, Eiji, hold my bag for a sec, I think I have some blank paper…"

Chiyo sighs at them (which wasn't fair at all; it wasn't like _Eiji_ had anything to do with this!) and turns to where Natsume had stopped, just ahead. "Don't mind these two, Natsu- Natsume-kun? Hey..."

( _There you are._ Seiji cuts the mental connection, orders now firmly in place, and smiles.)

Eiji glances up from trying to fix Dai's fake-ofuda (since what Dai had drawn didn't look _anything_ like a real one), and frowns. Natsume is staring at a bush on the side of the road, and his face had gone as white as a sheet. A breeze or something rustles some of the leaves, and Natsume suddenly leaps back, hands raised in front of him like something was gonna jump out at him. "Stay _away!_ " He yelps, arms flailing. For a second it almost looks like he's fighting something, or hitting thin air.

"Umm... Are you-?" Eiji manages, but then Natsume jumps like he's heard something. He still isn't looking at any of them, though, just kind of shooting looks off into the trees. With a sharp gasp and a weird, jerky movement, he turns on his heel and runs down the road.

"Okay, I'm- huh…? Oi!" Dai looks up at last, and notices his quarry running away. "Hey! Wait up!" Dai gives chase, page fluttering in his grip. Eiji exchanges an exasperated (and slightly weirded out, because what was _that_ about?) look with Chiyo, and they take off in pursuit.

Natsume slows as he turns a random bend (and that _wasn't_ the way home; where is he even going?), and Eiji loses sight of him. He can still hear Dai complaining just fine, though.

"What'd you run off like that for? Sheesh, it's just a joke, it's not like it was gonna…"

Eiji and Chiyo round the corner, and stumble to a stop as they take in the scene. There's another person there, an older boy with long-ish black hair and a hand placed firmly on Natsume's shoulder. The guy is also smiling the _creepiest_ smile at Dai, and Eiji twitches nervously as it's turned on him and Chiyo.

"Um… You are…" Natsume says, a little shaky. Mysterious Guy ignores him.

"Is there a problem here?"

Dai frowns, and Eiji stops him before he can do something rude by stepping forward. Natsume looks like he maybe knows the guy, and Natsume himself is looking really, _really_ scared for some reason—like, stiff as a board, and breathing really fast (though that might have been because of the running). Dai was also pretty big for their age, and the three of them _were_ kinda chasing Natsume. Eiji is smart enough to know how this would look to someone who's apparently friends enough with Natsume to stand up for him. "No, there isn't. We were just playing, right guys?"

Dai grumbles a little and pouts, but Chiyo nods quickly. "Yeah, sorry about that, Natsume-kun. If you don't like something, make sure you _tell_ Dai-kun, or he'll just talk right over you, okay?"

"Hey!"

"So, um, we'll see you later, alright? Bye!" Eiji and Chiyo herd Dai away with them, ignoring his protests, and they turn back towards home. Dai eventually quiets between them, and they continue walking in silence. Chiyo's the first one to break it.

"That was… weird."

"Yeah, it was! I mean, why did he even run off like that? It was a _piece of paper_ , it's not like it was gonna _hurt_ or anything-"

"Uh, she's not talking about that, Dai. I don't think you saw it, but he just stopped and kind of… well, it was freaky, whatever it was, back there before he ran off. And he yelled, do you remember? But at thin air."

"It was really creepy."

"Hmph. Whatever. You wanna know what _was_ creepy, though? That weird guy he was with. I mean, I don't know if you guys saw, but he had _red eyes._ Like those monsters on TV. I didn't even know people could have that color—hey do you think maybe he was wearing contacts or something? That'd be kinda cool, actually…"

"Don't be rude, Dai-kun. It's rare, but some people have red colored eyes normally—there's this one actor I know, Hana-chan says he's getting kind of popular, what was his name..." Eiji tunes out their conversation in favor of his thoughts. That _had_ been weird, the way the new kid had been so scared of… well, nothing. Nothing that _they_ could see, anyways.

He shakes the thought from his head, because Dai _was_ right about it being stupid. He should have listened to his mom. He decides to do that from now on, though—she obviously knew what she was talking about, when it came to Natsume Takashi.

* * *

Seiji turns his smile at Natsume. "You don't have to be so afraid, you know. I'm not going to hurt you."

"They... could see you." Natsume forces the words past his uncooperative lips. His entire body feels numb, save for the sharp awareness of how terrifyingly close the hand clamped to his shoulder —the deceptively normal, _human-like_ hand— is to his face and throat, and where the three ayakashi are standing behind him. He stares up at bright red eyes, and some part of him notes that the other boy is wearing a black gakuren today. It makes him look more human.

"Yes." The ...youkai? boy?—other, the other slants him a sly glance, as if he's figured everything out from that one statement alone and is just waiting for Natsume to catch up.

He manages to lick his lips, and asks, "Who are you?"

"Ah, yes. My apologies. My name is Matoba Seiji. What's your name?"

"I don't- you're... human?"

"Of course I am. Natsume-kun, she called you just now? I think we need to have a little chat. Though..." The other human —human, _human_ , other people could see him too; Natsume was trying to stifle the rising awe and _notalone_ — cuts a quick and assessing glance of their current location first, and apparently finds it inadequate. "Let's go somewhere a little more private, shall we? Do you have anywhere you'd prefer to go?"

"Ah…" It takes him a minute to work his voice properly. "...No. I'm not… I haven't been here long."

"Very well. I'm fairly new to this area myself, but I do know this one place where we can talk with a bit of privacy. Walk with me." Matoba-san firmly turns him and begins steering him down the road. Natsume walks stiffly, but placidly along, so distracted by his thoughts that he doesn't notice the shiki fading into the undergrowth.

It had been interesting, as an objective fact, to hear from a youkai that abstract people in the past had seen the same things he could —but not really a surprise, all things considered. Normal people had to know of ayakashi from _somewhere_ , after all, and that was assuming the adults weren't right somehow and he was making it all up in his head (in which case, the hallucination was giving him proof that it was real, which didn't count as proof _at all_ ).

But this? Being face to face with someone who wouldn't ever call him a liar, or an attention-seeker, and who could _see_ what he did? Having a name to put to someone that wouldn't think he was weird and creepy, and who could maybe _understand_ him?

It's completely world-changing, and Natsume had no idea how to navigate this suddenly new planet.

...Well. Okay, maybe not entirely; he has a pretty good idea of where he should start. Shyly, he peeks up at Matoba-san through his bangs, and is somehow neither surprised nor embarrassed when he finds the older boy looking back. Natsume offers a tentative smile, and gets one in return.

"Matoba-san. I'm Natsume Takashi. It's nice to meet you."

The hand gently slips free of his shoulder, and Matoba-san draws a half-step forward to better lead the way. "Likewise, Natsume-kun."

* * *

 **A/N:** Connotations. What fun.

Fourth graders. I'M WRITING FOURTH GRADERS. WHAT DO THOSE SHORT PEOPLE EVEN SOUND LIKE? The closest reference I have to regular nine-year-olds is this little cousin of mine who's thirteen and basically Eiji plus YouTube minus everything Japanese culture. And a lot more brat, because that is something that exponentiates until about college/university.

Yes, Fukuro asking after Natsume's health was it being worried. It tells itself that's just because it didn't mean to drain Natsume _that much_ if it was the reason he's looking tired but... Well, I'm not sure I completely believe that XP

Also, pronouns. Matoba refers to basically everything spirit as an 'it', because he's fond of dehumanizing like that (the little mouse youkai from the first chapter, for example, is supposed to be female—not sure how well I did on that, but them's the breaks), but I'm not sure how much of that habit Natsume should pick up. Some ayakashi are _obviously_ male or female (Fukuro is not one of them—although, say, Hinoe is), and I feel that Natsume would acknowledge that where he can, but some can't even be considered a living being (rock with a face, anyone?), and Natsume _is_ being influenced by Seiji. Mostly in subtle ways right now, though, and Natsume indiscriminately calling all ayakashi "it"s is a good way to show that. So I don't know... What do you guys think?

Guys, Alex is busy entertaining guests while I write (which means I'll have a lot of ruffled feathers to smooth later... But it's For the Greater Good, yeah?), so he's not around to detail what a gakuren is. I'm pretty sure it's just a guy high-school uniform though.

Next time: Another biased info-dump. A snack is also had—though it's not Natsume this time, how novel.


	5. A Chat Happens

**A/N:** Yo! Happy New Year's, my non-Asian readers! (...What's that? New Year's has already passed, you say? Ahah, ahahaha, that's a good one...)

We're finally getting to the Matoba. This chapter is basically _all_ Matoba. I'm deliriously happy. The bliss and wonderfulness of this, I can't even.

GUYS, I HAVE AN ACTUAL ANNOUNCEMENT-ISH THING: So I was reviewing my massive master timeline for the next few in-story days (because shit starts getting real here, folks), and I realized I had something that would fit better on a weekend happening on a weekday. So I could either leave it, shove it back and add a few filler days (which I didn't want to do for the sake of realism and holding true to canon—because honestly, Seiji's already missing more than a week of school, and the stuff that goes on with exorcists in canon never seems to take more than a few days at a time, ergo this fic's pacing is already ridiculously drawn-out), or I could squish a few spaced-out events into the same day. So I experimented, and now I've got something of a cohesive timeline where basically a lot of things happen every single day (and the Rakuto's must not get home until well after dark because otherwise they'd _have_ to notice Natsume is never home and homework will just not be a Thing at all), and it all just barely manages to slot all the major events (though I might have to rework some scenes out) into about a week, in-story time. And it's sitting on my desktop and I'm just staring at it in abject horror, because I've gone and put _actual work_ into it and now my brain is telling me all the ways this timeline matches canon and real life better but Alex keeps telling me that it's nowhere near realistic and way too much stuff happens to be feasible in a day and guys I don't know what to do with this. Right now I'm going with Alex, but...

So, with all that out of the way, how are you guys liking the pacing of this fic? ^_^lll I should make it faster? Let their relationship-building drag along at the current pace before they hit the angst? (Yes, angst is a thing, later. There's practically a whole arc dedicated to it.)

* * *

Once they reach the town proper, Natsume eventually figures that, wherever they're going, Matoba-san is in no particular hurry to get there. It's an easy conclusion to reach, since the older boy seems intent on taking the scenic route through town, ambling along the streets of the market area purposefully, but slowly.

Natsume's perfectly fine with that, and with the small talk the older boy seems so keen on keeping up (while at the same time pretending very hard not to be), but it does make it a little hard to guess where they're going. He doesn't ask, though, just tries to follow Matoba's lead and keep the conversation light. It's surprisingly easy, despite both of them avoiding serious topics and having little in common. Natsume is nine, Matoba is sixteen (even though he acts a lot older). Natsume doesn't really have any hobbies, and Matoba enjoys archery and certain games—though Matoba doesn't ask 'why not' so Natsume doesn't ask 'what kind'. He also doesn't ask why Matoba is apparently skipping classes to romp (or maybe skulk; Matoba-san seems more like the skulking type) about in the woods, because Matoba leaves it at that when Natsume tells him that he's freeloading at his uncle's place. Neither of them mention how unconcerned the other seems to get home or really anything about family at all, though Natsume admits to living in one of the apartments near the sole train station in Hawamachi and Matoba-san mentions that he's just visiting the area.

By the time Matoba-san has had enough of walking in vague circles and starts them towards a slightly different part of town, Natsume has figured out that he's being tested somehow. He's also come to the realization that neither of them are particularly social in a way that small talk comes to naturally—Natsume a bit too quiet, too isolated, and Matoba a bit too serious for frivolous things, he thinks, though Matoba-san's good enough to steer the conversation in a way that keeps it from getting awkward. He needs to figure out how to do that, and to stop questioning everything that makes Matoba-san look like a youkai trying to trick him (even _if_ the older boy seemingly spends all day doing whatever he wants and has taken an interest in Natsume for no apparent reason beyond that he can see ayakashi and Matoba-san doesn't live in the town –maybe not even in a _house_ – and Natsume needs to stop thinking like this because his suspicions are completely unfounded and unfair on the other boy).

Eventually, they come to a halt before the upscale, fancy-looking tourist-trap of a tea house in the middle of the more populated , and Natsume balks slightly because this is not the kind of place people have ever taken him –or take any child, for that matter– to. Matoba-san, though, waltzes right in confidently; maybe he goes to places like this often? The thought is a bit daunting, but Natsume shakes it off and hastens to catch up.

His pause means he's missed what Matoba tells the waitress, but they are led upstairs to a spacious, private room with two settings laid out and left alone for a moment. Matoba-san invites him to sit, so he sets aside his bag and does so uncertainly. Then, face-to-face with each other, Natsume watches as, with a tilt of lips pretending to be a smile, the idle curiosity in the older boy's eyes _shifts_ , until Natsume is looking at something sharp and assessing and entirely business.

* * *

Seiji observes the boy as they order their tea. Short, waifish, with clothes that don't quite fit as well as they could. An odd aura, almost like that of a youkai itself. Pale too; Seiji had attributed that to fear when he'd first seen it (which would have been understandable, considering) but evidently that is not the case; perhaps the child was coming down with something. He asks if the boy wants anything and gets a hasty but polite negative.

Well then. Nonchalantly, he adds a plate of dango to their order (little children liked sweet things, right?), and ignores the uncertain look he gets from his companion.

When their tea (and snack) arrives, he pushes the plate across the table, watching in amusement as his little tagalong stumbles over himself trying to return it without causing offense.

"It's rude to turn it down without even tasting it, Natsume-kun. I've already ordered it; you might as well eat," he comments, and takes a sip of tea to avoid the temptation to smirk unkindly at the way the other boy flushes. (It's not something he'd normally bother to hide, but he supposes that in this instance the kiddy-gloves are in order.)

The child obediently starts eating, though with such a look of consternation that Seiji lightly adds, "It's nothing I can't afford. And I'm not fond of sweets anyways." The boy looks... not happy, but less conflicted, so Seiji counts it a success. He asks if it's good and gets a meek affirmation. Pleasantries done, he arranges his limbs into something more casual and gives the boy a moment to relax (though that's really just so he can take advantage of a lowered guard). Then he smiles, politeness edged with _intent_.

"You must have questions." Natsume nods, a little shyly, and mutters a soft _hai_. Seiji makes an indulgent gesture. "Ask away, then."

This clearly throws the child off; the boy is obviously not used to having the ball in his court. Seiji waits. Natsume takes a sip of his tea as he considers, recovering with surprising swiftness. "So... you can see them too, Matoba-san?"

It's not really a question, spoken more like someone confirming a fact aloud, but it's as good a starting point as any. "Yes, I can see them. And do quite a bit more, too," he adds, because he _is_ going somewhere with this.

 _come_

An ayakashi of his melts through the wall behind him, and Natsume jerks back violently. The boy scrambles to save his tea from spilling, and clutches the cup with white-knuckled fingers as he stares up at it.

"Heh." Seiji doesn't bother to wipe the amusement from his voice, though after a moment he arranges his expression into a smile less entertained. "My apologies if they scared you. But you're rather jumpy, aren't you." Natsume switches his wide-eyed stare from the shiki to Seiji. Seiji studies him calmly in return, contemplative (because the boy _is_. _Extremely_ twitchy...at least, around ayakashi. Hmm. Perhaps...).

"Oh. Sorry…" Natsume looks down first, fingers slowly relaxing around the teacup. He takes a sip—stalling. "I just... Are we... do you think we're... weird, for being able to see them?" The boy works out tentatively, peeking at him through long bangs of silver.

Seiji tips his head to one side slightly, a soft "Hmm?" escaping him as he ponders the muted (but still fervent) light of _hope_ in the child's eyes. That...wasn't quite where he'd expected this conversation to go.

It dawns on him, slowly, that he might actually be the first person this little boy's met who could also see.. _anything_. ...How odd. Most of the people Seiji bothers to acquaint himself with are at least _aware_ of the spirit world and exorcists, if not one themselves.

Not for the first time, Seiji considers what it must be like, to be born outside of any sort of clan at all. How must the world seem, to someone so completely isolated? To live with only the ayakashi and regular people—people who couldn't do anything to protect themselves even if they had wanted to—and who would want to? Who, among the ignorant masses, would have wanted to believe in the threat of such scary things, things that they can't even see?

Seiji doesn't really deal with that sort of ignorance these days, except in his classmates. But Natsume Takashi, it seems, has never known anything else.

Until now.

...He can use this. He smiles, tucking away the predatory edges and brushing aside the brief flash of pity (though this, at least, explains the desperation that he sometimes sees in the glances the boy keeps sneaking at him, as if he'll somehow disappear or turn out to be an illusion), as he quickly rethinks his approach. This is apparently not going to be the conversation he'd planned for, where he'd have to essentially cow a curious child sufficiently enough to discourage further meddling and leave his work undisturbed.

That was fine. Seiji could improvise.

"No," he says firmly, "we're not. It's a talent, Natsume-kun, and a responsibility. But that's what power always is. And you seem to have at least some of it, maybe more." He watches the child keenly. The boy seems to be hanging onto his every word, so he elaborates, "Did you know? There are people that can hurt ayakashi, but can't actually see them, and there are people that see them, but can't do anything to protect themselves. People who can do both, like you might be able to, are very valuable," and he was losing the boy, he could see it. Natsume was definitely _thinking_ about his words, but they weren't quite resonating; acting on a hunch, he switches tacks slightly. "Because people like _us_ are the best ones to deal with ayakashi. There's a whole community of others with one foot in the spirit world, all dealing with the same things you are. People who can See have to look out for each other, after all."

Ah, there we go. Rapport building instead of flattery and power plays—not what usually works, but he supposes children have different priorities. He should probably just stick to the emotive routes, then; they'd worked well enough on Natsume before. It's not something he usually bothers with, but... well, he supposes a little show of sympathy won't cost him anything he wasn't already prepared to give. Seiji smiles.

Natsume shifts, looking both incredibly happy and slightly uneasy. "Matoba-san, earlier you said... are you... are you an exorcist?"

He smile drops a notch, the only sign of surprise he allows himself. "You've had contact with us?" That could prove... problematic, if there was another reason for Natsume to be poking at his spells. Seiji had gone off the assumption that the boy had simply been an ultimately harmless coincidence—if there was a third party interfering...

"Ah, no. I heard about you. ...From a youkai," Natsume says, and _ah_ , that explains why the boy seems so uncomfortable. Seiji tries (though not very hard, granted) not to let either his amusement or mild distaste show.

"A youkai?" He drawls out, dragging the syllables a bit to see the child squirm. "Well. I suppose you've probably heard some inaccurate information, then. Allow me to... correct that." Seiji takes a slow sip of his tea, deliberating. "Tell me, what _have_ you heard, Natsume-kun?"

"It didn't-didn't seem to like you," Natsume mumbles, clearly uncomfortable.

Him? In particular? "I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific than that, Natsume-kun." He tips his head slightly, adding just a touch of force to the name and smiling with his eyes closed. Natsume shifts uneasily.

"It... It said that you all hurt and take from youkai. And are nuisances. That things would be better, without exorcists." He snaps his mouth shut and cringes, as if expecting Seiji to blame him for repeating an ayakashi's words.

"Hmm." Well. That could be repeated by any spirit off the street, spouting nonsense. He lets nothing show on his face, and deliberately asks, "and what do you think we do?"

The boy looks up and blinks once at him, surprised. "Um... Well, you exorcise spirits that are bothering people, right?"

"In a sense. We deal with the dangerous and the troublemakers, mostly by either purifying them or sealing them away, but we also set up barriers to keep them out of places they shouldn't be—homes, for example. And we stop them from troubling us." And hunt down useful ones, so we can make them do our bidding. Take out competition within the exorcist community. Meddle with the spirit world whenever it suits us.

But Seiji's talking to a child, so he censors himself and simplifies his thoughts a bit. "Exorcists protect people, in short. But to do that, we need power—the weak can't do anything, after all." The boy looks to be mostly in agreement, though still a bit uncertain—but then, Seiji supposes that Natsume wouldn't have heard any of this before. It would never have occurred to the boy if he hadn't known of other people who could See, and Seiji admits to himself that he... doesn't usually need to _justify_ the basic ideology behind his family's work. "Haven't you ever been threatened by an ayakashi, or had them threaten the people around you? Or ever wished that they would just... leave you alone?"

Seiji eyes Natsume's stony expression. His own features are just as blank, though he makes an effort to gentle his voice. In this, it isn't even all that hard. "...I see that you have."

"...Hai," Natsume says with a nod, eyes downcast and voice so, so quiet. Seiji gives him a moment of respectful silence, before continuing.

"Exorcists learn how to hurt ayakashi to accomplish these things, and we do it for people who can't do it themselves. I suppose that, from a youkai's perspective, we _would_ seem like nuisances. But it doesn't matter if they like us, and you can't be an exorcist if you concern yourself over things like that." He pauses to take a sip of his now-cool tea, and when he next speaks he can almost hear an echo of the voice of his father, telling him the story of the founding of the eleven-family alliance. "A long time ago, my family raised their bows against the ayakashi that came to attack the villagers. We drove them away. That was the beginning of the family business. Well," he dismisses as he turns his attention to Natsume, who sits listening intently. With a smile, he brushes off the shadow of nostalgia. "There's a bit more to the story than that. Perhaps I'll tell you the rest another time. But these days, we do it for our comrades, and for the people who request it of us. The Matoba Clan is rather prominent in certain circles." Seiji considers for a moment, then decides _why not._ Sympathy. His voice deliberately soft, he continues without missing a beat, "I suppose I'm lucky in that respect, being born into an exorcist clan. There were always people who understood." He sends Natsume a small smile, as understanding as he can force it to be.

"You've been all alone for a long time, haven't you? You don't have to be, anymore."

And that's clearly the right thing to say, because Natsume looks somewhere between tearing up and... smiling? Asking for a hug, maybe? Well, he's not sure, but it all looks extremely emotional from Seiji's perspective. Thankfully, that delightfully awkward moment (and Seiji considers never using this method on anyone again, because he's obviously out of practice; but he knows he'll do his best to try it anyways, because _he's obviously out of practice_ —though, where else is he going to find someone both potentially worthwhile and who would fall for this sort of thing?) meets a swift end at the timely interruption of one of his spells going off—something rather more disruptive than if he'd been, say, at the branch house, as the town was much closer to them. Absently, he notes the location and nearly frowns, because that was something that had been happening with almost alarming frequency today; something was activating them almost faster than he could reset them.

The majority of his attention, however, is focused on the way Natsume had _also_ jumped to attention. Well, that did explain a few things. "So you can sense them too, hmm? I should have expected that, really." His eyes narrow slightly; he _did_ have an initial goal in this conversation, after all. "I suppose that explains where we first met."

"Hai. ...Um, Matoba-san, are you the one who..." Natsume wave his hands uncertainly. Seiji supposes he wouldn't know how to describe a spell either, if he didn't already know what it was.

"Yes, those are my work." Seiji narrows his eyes at the expression on the child's face. "Why do you ask?"

"How... What are they? Why are you making them?"

Seiji can see that it's not really the question the boy wants to ask, but he humors him, for now. "Well, I guess you could say it's a warning. 'Something dangerous has come,' or something like that. It's usually a spell meant for home security, but I've tweaked it a little. Now it simply helps me keep track of particularly powerful and dangerous ayakashi—and nosy little children, apparently," Seiji ruthlessly adds on, falsely casual. He pretends not to notice Natsume flinch as he motions to the open window, where the edges of the forest are just visible through the buildings downhill. "There's a pretty strong one out there now, so I'm staying until the situation is resolved." One way or another. "But that's not what you really want to know, is it?"

Natsume flushes under the force of Seiji's smile. The boy's an open book. Seiji lifts his hand, palm up, and shows Natsume the drawing on it.

"There are a lot of useful spells out there. This one, for example," he concentrates, and the lines of ink peel off his hand and float perpendicular to his palm, leaving his skin mark-free. Natsume leans a little closer, entranced; Seiji's smile gains an edge halfway between wry and smug. "This one reveals most ayakashi for what they are. All it takes is a touch. But, I don't need this anymore," he adds, and clenches his fingers around the floating design. It's crushed in his fist, collapsing into itself, and when Seiji opens his fingers the ink wisps away, leaving behind nothing.

"Whoa..." Natsume's awestruck eyes never leave his hand; his eyes never leave Natsume. Thus, Seiji sees the exact moment Natsume snaps back to full attention and realization dawns. "Wait, that's..." Natsume swallows, leaning back slightly. Seiji waits patiently for the boy to find his voice, lips quirked slightly upwards. "That's the hand you put on my shoulder. Before."

Seiji's smile widens a notch. "Very good, Natsume-kun. Yes, it was. I wanted to make sure, you see, and that was the easiest way." And doing a proper background search would've been difficult, away from the Main House and on such short notice. "I wasn't sure you were human either, you see."

Natsume stares at him, and looks like he wants to say something but can't quite muster up the nerve. He also, Seiji notes with amusement, has something very like stars dancing in his eyes. The silence stretches as Natsume clearly attempts to draw up enough courage to act.

"Yes?" Seiji prods offhandedly, as if he'd only just noticed—as if he hadn't been egging the boy towards this since he'd first realized that Natsume was almost certainly unaffiliated. As if he hadn't been considering Natsume's potential since he'd seen a boy not even in his teenage years, completely untrained, unprepared, and yet was still strong enough to take one of his shiki head-on and _win_.

"Will you..." Natsume clears his throat nervously. "Will you teach me how? To make something like that, and drive away youkai? Please?"

There was no trace of surprise on his face, Seiji made sure of it. There was no denying that he _was_ surprised, though. That... hadn't quite been what he'd been expecting, though he probably should have anticipated the possibility. He'd expected the boy to want contacts, a way to maintain a connection with exorcists—a way Seiji could have provided and monitored simply enough, as there would be another Matoba-hosted Gathering nearby in less than a month's time. But for Natsume to want direct training...

Seiji had never taught anyone before—had never so much as tutored a younger relative. He'd never had cause. His power level was beyond most of them, and so their skillsets were quite different, and Seiji himself still had more to learn before he could consider himself any sort of master of exorcism.

Still. The offer was tempting, and might be good practice for the long run. "Well, I'd have to see a bit more of what you're capable of; I won't waste my time if you're not worth teaching. And you'd have to swear to keep the things I teach you a secret, even from other exorcists," he pieces out carefully, giving himself a few ways out. "You might have to help me do some things... But in exchange, I suppose I could teach you some things, about being an exorcist."

And the boy's whole face lights up. Seiji hadn't realized quite how sad Natsume's default expression was until now. "Really? You... you don't mind, Matoba-san?"

"I wouldn't offer if I did." He pauses, then adds, "and Seiji is fine. It seems we'll be spending a bit of time together."

And Natsume agrees just like that, with not even the slightest hint of suspicion discernible in his open, trusting gaze. Hook, line, and sinker—done, even if not quite exactly as he'd expected. He smiles —as genuine as his get, really— with closed eyes to hide the triumph. But he was getting ahead of himself.

"Well then, that's that. Let's see what you can do."

Off in the distance, another spell goes off, blast residue hanging in the air for a long moment, before slowly fading away.

* * *

 **A/N** : I suspect there will be much frustration in my future, even if how much I enjoy writing this fic has shot up several degrees of magnitude. Because Matoba. Or rather, _my_ Matoba, who is not the same man who shows up in the manga, nor the politely-mocking-you version young!Natori meets (though mine does that too). Because this is an isolated teenager dealing with an isolated child —and it should be said that Matoba has no experience with little kids, basically none— and that's not even accounting for their personalities. I actually have only a vague idea of who this Seiji is, but fleshing him out is half the fun. (The other half, obviously, is throwing popcorn off the characters' heads —and missing sometimes, but that's okay, these things happen— and Alex's running commentary of snark. We make it work.)

All that said, Seiji is pretty much just completely unashamedly using Natsume right now—testing the limits and talents of his new toy, so to speak. He thinks he's got Natsume pegged ( _"hah"_ is my first thought, but then, I suppose he's usually right about people). He's just underestimating Natsume 'cause widdle Natsu-kun's such a cute brat, who is obviously on the verge of hero-worshipping the ground Seiji walks on. (It's just such an entirely new experience for him, being the prodigy child of a disreputable clan known for being something between snakes and vultures XP)

Also, I have a Tumblr. No Twist things on there, yet, but I'm considering it, and also that (plus the fact that the guests that came for Christmas didn't get the memo to _leave_ after Christmas, and the new job I kind of really need to focus on) is my excuse for why I might be updating a little slower after this. Eheh. Ehehehehe.

As I understand it, "hai" is something of an affirmation or acknowledgment, used somewhere along the lines of "yes, sir" but closer in tone to an "okay" or "sure". And dango are these little sticky-sweet balls of utter deliciousness and I wish they were easier to find near where I live D:

Next time: Natsume's such a popular battery.


End file.
